Box-stack spacer for freight cars



Sept. l, 1951 R. P. BARBOUR Box-STACK SPACER FoR FREIGHT cARs 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 9, 1945 Raid. 5

INVENToR. R. P. .Bc-arbo ur MWL lrsatenteci Sept. i951v UNITED STATE-S PATENT OFFICE 2,567,465 sexism-xoxV sncila FOR'FREIGHT CARS iftiiell ii. l'riui, indi, Calif. Application Api-ll e, 1945; serial Nol s7`,345 (ci. 16e-lese) This invention has for an object the provision of an improved box loading arrangement for 4rail-,- road cars, whereby a load of boxes of A fruitpor vegetables is maintained in proper order in the carduring transitrthereof. l Y! ,Y k

Another object of the present inventionis to provide novelbox spacing- `means in the load/ so as topermit of desirable air circulationv through such load; said means comprising Istrip units having longitudinal slots therethrough. u

A further object of this invention is to provide a unique wedging assembly operative to effectivelyplempthe stacks of boxes, and intermediate spacing strips, of each tier between Opposite walls of the' railroad car; the clamping actionbeingsucll that the boxes are all restrained against upward creeping movement in the load and which etherwise frequently occurs with resultant disturbance to and damage of said load.

An additional object is to provide a car loading arrangement which includes strip units assembled with securing nails projecting slightly beyond one face thereof whereby said' projecting nail portions penetrate the car wall, or a stack of boxes, to hold the strip unit in place during loading operations and subsequent transit of the car.

A further yobject of the' invention is te practice a` simple' .and inexpensive device, and yetuone which will be exceedingly effective for the purlose for which it designed. Y ,A

These objects are accomplished by mea f such structure and relative arrangementfofupvts as will fully appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims'. y ,l

In thej drawings similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts on the s''veral views:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a tier of boxes loaded in a railroad car by means of the present invention; the wedging assembly being shown between adjacent stacks of boxes.

Figure 2 is a perspective View, foreshortened, of one of the spacing strip units.

Figure 3 is a cross section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, showing one form of wedge assembly.

Figure 4 is a similar view, but shows a modified form of wedge assembly.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary side elevation illustrating the wedge assembly as employed between one end stack of a tier oi boxes and the adjacent Wall of a car.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawings, and at present to Figs. 1-3 inclusive, the numeral I indicates a transversely extending tier of stacks 2 of boxes 3, .the boxes being disposed in the stacks so that said. boxes are in adjacent end to end relation in the tier, the latter extending transversely of the railroad ear between the car walls 4.

Between adjacent ends of a pair of the stacks 2 there is disposed a centralized .wedgifig asseritbly, indicated generally at 5, and vwhich wedging assemblywill hereinafter be describedin'greater detail. Between the other adjacent ends vof lthe stacks 2, and between the.endn'l'ost.stacks and the car walls 4, there is provided centralized spac. ing strip units, indicated generallyat 6, each of said spacing strip units comprising the following:

A pair of elongated laths or strips 'I are disposed in facing parallel relation;v said strips ,being spaced apart atpoints inthe length vthereof by small spacing blocks 8; theunit comprised of v*said strips and blocks being attached togetherby ,nails S driven throughthe slats at. said blocks; the nails il being of a length so that the points thereof protrude beyond the ladjacentslat face. The spacing4 strip units, constructed as above, are of aheig'ht slightly greater than the anticipated height of the stacksv2. v

When the load is being placed in apar the protruding nails 9 serve to initially maintain .the spacing strip units in position againstL apar wall4 or 4against oneend of a stack il,vv while the adjacent Steck is being placed The protruding points 9 are merely driven into the car wall or stack end,-as will be evident..

When the lspacing stripunits are disposed in altier betweenv adjacentl stacks of .boxes and between the endmost stacks `of each tier and the corresponding end walls, the slotsv Illv formed Vbetweeilie .Stripe 1 .by illlpageeblele,agarre as ventilation openings, permitting effective air circulation throughout the load in the car not only during precooling thereof, but during transit.

The wedging assembly 5 which is employed to clamp each tier into the railroad car between the walls 4 thereof comprises the following:

A pair of vertically extending compression rails Il are disposed in facing but spaced relation; the rails being cut so that the adjacent faces thereof converge axially in a downward direction, the faces of said rails Il being each formed with a central longitudinal tongue l2. A plurality of vertically spaced wedges I3 engage between the rails Il said wedges being grooved, as at i4, on opposite sides to receive the tongues l2 in guiding relation. The wedges i3 are driven downwardly to clamp the stacks 2 of each tier i between the car walls 4; said wedges being of a length and driven downwardly to an extent such that the clamping action of the uppermost wedge is greater on the tier than the clamping action of the remaining wedges. The advantage of this feature is that it assures against any of the boxes in the stacks 2 from creeping upwardly in the load by reason of the constant movement thereof while in transit.

It should also be noted that by reason of the described wedging assembly the wedges are selftightening that is if the load loosens at all in transit the wedges tend to settle to a tight position.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new and useful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. In combination with stacks of containers disposed in a carrier, a spacer for such stacks, such spacer comprising two elongated rails disposed vertically and facing each other between opposed ends of the stacks of containers, such rails being of a height to rest upon the floor of the carrier and to extend to substantially the top of the stacks, the outer faces of the rails being in substantial parallelism with the ends of The form of compression rail IIa and wedges I3a, as shown in Fig. 4, functions lin the same manner as above described, but here the longif tudinal guide tongues I2a are formed on the wedges while the grooves I4a are formed lengthwise in adjacent faces of the compression rails IIa. In other words, Fig. 4 represents merely a reversal of the wedging arrangement of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 5 there is illustrated the manner in which the wedging assembly is employed between the one wall 4 of the car and the adjacent stack 2, instead of between adjacent stacks, as in Fig. 1. In this embodiment a single verticallj7 extending compression rail I5 is employed, with said rail abutting vertically against the stack 2. The rail I5 is tapered in a manner so that the face thereof adjacent the wall 4 converges downwardly toward the latter. Vertically spaced wedges I6 engage between the wall 4 and the compression rail I5, there being guiding means between said wedges and rail similar to that shown in Figs. 3 or 4. When the wedges I6 are driven downwardly they clamp all of the stacks 2 in the tier I in tight end to end engagement and between the car walls 4.

With my improved car loading arrangement a railroad car can be loaded quickly and with facility, and after the load is in place it is securely held against accidental displacement during transit of the car; the spacing strip units 6 providing the necessary ventilation throughout the load between the stacks 2.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that there has been produced such a car loading arrangement as substantially fullls the objects of the invention as set lforth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the car loading arrangement, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

' the stacks, the inner faces of the rails converging downwardly toward each other for their full length from top to bottom thereof, and a plurality of wedges of different widths interposed between the converging faces of the rails in verticallyspaced relation with respect to each other; the rails and wedges being provided with coacting tongue and groove surfaces effective to maintain the wedges in properly guided vertical relation between the rails.

2. A spacer for introduction between a stack of containers in a carrier and a relatively fixed opposed vertical surface, comprising an elongated vertical rail to rest on the iioor of the carrier and of a height to then extend to adjacent the top of the` stack, the outer face of the rail abutting one vertical face of the stack and the inner face of the rail converging downwardly relative to said opposed vertical surface, and a plurality of vertically spaced wedges of different widths interposed between and engaging the inner face of the rail and said opposed surface; the rail and wedges being formed with co-acting tongue and groove surfaces effective to maintain the wedges in properly guided vertical relation with the rail.

ROSWELL P. BARBOUR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of Ythis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,256 Hoak Jan. 26, 1943 793,374 Hope June 27, 1905 1,646,982 Schlay Oct. 25, 1927 1,708,413 Fowler Apr. 9, 1929 1,970,781 Stevens et al Aug. 21, 1934 2,022,325 Schroeder Nov. 26, 1935 2,053,638 Schroeder Sept. 8, 1936 2,169,677 Burrell Aug. 15, 1939 2,279,522 Price Apr. 14, 1942 2,341,088 Ellis Feb. 8, 1944 

